"He was lying," Janius answered. "If he wasn't, then we will have to be ready to leap to Julan's aid if he is struck gravely. Julan is a strong boy, he'll be alright. Especially since that spear isn't even metal, let alone...Well, an accident won't do him in."

Janius took a deep breath to try and push the worst from his mind. "If you ask me, Kaleeth, I think Deerz cared about you and simply did not take your departure well. Just because he's angry now, doesn't mean he would do something as horrible as that." He gave Kaleeth a look. "Unless you think he would be capable of it. You knew him better than I ever did."

[hr]
Dark memories came over Fendros' face. He was still occupied in the back of his mind by piecing together what put Ahnasha in this state, but other things flashed into his mind. He averted his eyes.

"I've just learned to ignore it," Fendros admitted. "Most of the time, it's only the memories of my first...truly horrible experiences with killing that have stuck with me. They usually take up my nightmares when the usual ones don't turn up."

Ahnasha was acutely aware of what the 'usual' nightmares were.

"Do you really feel nothing anymore when you kill?" Fendros continued. "What about your earlier experiences. Do they still bother you?"